The Union - Milpitas High School - September 2018 by MHS The Union

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N E WS 1 , 8

OP-ED 2,3

F E AT U R E S 4

LI F E ST YL E 5

E NTE R TAI N M E NT 6

S PO R TS 7

T HE

SEPTEMBER 2018 Volume XXX Issue I

MHSTHEUNION.COM For the latest updates

STUDENT VOICE OF MILPITAS HIGH SCHOOL

N EWS IN BR IEF

SATs now available at MHS; exams aim for convenience

Grading Period Ends | Sept. 28

BY Vivian Tsang

Stephen Stewart Invitational | Sept. 28 - 30 Milpitas Speech and Debate will be hosting their third annual invitational at MHS. Milpitas Community Library Book Sale | Sept. 28 - 30 The Friends of the Library will be having their triannual book sale. Upcoming Standardized Test Dates | Oct. 6, Oct. 28 The upcoming SAT date is on Oct. 6. The next ACT date is on Oct. 28. Registration for these dates have ended. Day of Observance | Oct. 8 School will not be in session for Indigenous People’s Day. MUSD Board Meeting | Oct. 9 There is a board meeting from 7pm to 10pm at the MUSD Board room. Homecoming Dance | Oct. 13 The homecoming dance will be held at the gym from 7:30pm to 10:30pm. Latino Awards | Oct. 24 Latino Awards Night will recognize the efforts of Latino students in the MHS theater from 5:30pm to 7pm. Staff Development Day | Nov. 1 School will not be in session.

JONATHAN TR AN | THE UNION

Officers of True Colors promote their club during CLOG Rush, which took place from Aug. 28 to Aug. 30. Over 45 CLOGs participated in this biannual event.

CLOG Rush hosted on Green BY Kirk Tran

CLOG Rush was held on the Green from Aug. 28 to Aug. 30. CLOG Rush is a school institution for the purpose of raising awareness of CLOGs. CLOG Commissioner Tanya Saharan said that the biannual CLOG Rush is more or less a club recruitment drive. “To start off, just to be clear - CLOG stands for clubs and organizations.” Saharan said. “And, no I don’t know why Milpitas named it that, but I fully embrace it.” Several CLOG officers said that most of the recruitment is done

through yelling and making posters. “For Board Game Club, we had a chant that we would just scream, you know, at just the top of our lungs, and hopefully that would draw people in,” Board Game Club President John Beckman said. “Everyone is yelling to advertise their club,” Math Club Vice President Antoine Devictor said. “[Our club members make] funny signs, that are—apparently some members of our club like to make meme-worthy signs.” Music for the event is chosen by a

The SAT tests are now available at MHS, according to Assistant Principal Jonathan Mach. After gaining approval from College Board to become a supersite for the SATs, MHS can now offer tests to over 500 students, Mach said. Students with disabilities, approved for accommodations such as extended testing time, will also have the option to take the exams at MHS, Mach continued. Mach, who was in charge of the process, felt that it was important for students to have access to a nearby and familiar testing location, he said. “You get very nervous if you have to go far away,” Mach explained. “You’re already stressed as it is. You have to wake up earlier, and go to a campus you don’t know, find your name, and find your class to wait to get in, and by that time, that’s a lot of energy. It’s only fair that we can offer something like that.” It will be nice for students to take the SATs in a more familiar and comfortable environment, Assistant Principal Jennifer Hutchison said. “There is a lot of work that goes into

preparing and hosting the SATs, so in the past, there has not been the point person to take it on,” Hutchison said. “Mr. Mach has come to MHS with a wealth of knowledge and experience in this area, so he is excited to share that with the Milpitas community.” As with AP exams, SBAC, and other standardized tests, MHS does not receive any monetary profit for hosting the SATs, Mach said. The profit is being able to offer it to students living in the area, Mach added. Senior Snigdha Garlapalli is finished with her SATs, but she would have considered taking it at MHS, she said. “It’s great that the SAT is being offered at MHS,” Garlapalli said. “I’d be more comfortable taking it in a familiar area instead of a random place I’ve never been to before.” Junior Johnny Huang said he believes that other schools may be even more comfortable than MHS. “I would definitely consider taking the SATs here for the convenience and familiarity, but another school may have an even more comfortable setting to take the SATs,” Huang said. “Another school might have a more modern facility.”

Eye on Campus: Senior Picnic

SEE CLOG RUSH ON PAGE 8

Pluses and minuses axed from transcripts BY Ashley Chen

Plus and minus signs will no longer appear on students’ transcripts, Principal Francis Rojas said. This change, effective this year, only applies to grades received during the 2018 to 2019 school year, he continued. Only the transcript will reflect this change and not the grades that teachers give their students, Rojas said. If a student receives an A- for the semester, it will go into the GPA calculation as a 4.0 instead of a 3.77, he continued. “It decreases the unneeded competition to just get that little [grade] bump,” Rojas said. “There are people fighting for a B to a B+. People are al-

ready stressed out and the colleges don’t even calculate it that way. They just give you what we’re giving you now: 4, 3, 2, or 1. In the end, the pluses and minuses are still there, but the way that the points are calculated are exactly the way that the UCs and the CSUs calculate it, and that’s where most of our students go.” This change will be beneficial for students, Senior Kally Pan said. However, the downside is that it would be harder to differentiate GPAs, she continued. “I like [the change] because it is easier for us to calculate our GPA,” Pan said. “Back then when our A minuses had a different GPA from our A’s and A pluses, it was really hard to keep up my A minuses, so I really like

that change.” Although transcipts will no longer have plus or minus signs, the math department has agreed to keep plus and minus signs for their grading scales, Math Department Lead MeiHsiang Tseng said. The math teachers made this decision because they wanted to be able to see a clear difference in their students’ abilities, she said. “More than five or six years ago, we didn’t have [plus and minus signs], and eventually they wanted to figure out who will be the top one for the class and who can speak at graduation,” Tseng said. “That’s the main problem [the administration wanted to fix].”

DEVYN NGUYEN | THE UNION

A group of seniors hike through a path at Saratoga Springs. Students participated in activites such as swimming, volleyball, table tennis, and basketball.

Lack of pads in restrooms remains an issue BY Loan-Anh Pham

Pads and other menstrual products were not stocked in MHS bathrooms for the 2018 school year, Principal Rojas said. The topic fell off the radar but will be back on the radar soon, he continued. The lack of pads can be tied back to budgeting issues, Rojas explained. For example, the X building offers free menstrual products since the building is under the jurisdiction of another district, he said. “[The X building] is operated by the San Jose Evergreen College District; what you will typically see is the community colleges, [products] are there, and in high schools, you will see that products used to be there,” Rojas commented. “Because our funding sources are very different, we can’t just buy those supplies.”

Vandalism is also a factor in the school’s decision to stock pads in the health office instead, Health Clerk Rona Tolentino said. The school restocks pads for emergency need consistently, and approximately five to ten students come in each week for the products, Tolentino added. “I don’t think the students know about these supplies because we do not have the obligation to advertise them,” Tolentino explained. “We as a school do not have the responsibility to provide these products. I believe students are expected to bring their own products, just like they would bring their cellphones and wallets.” Vandalism should not prevent the receptacles from being restocked, Senior Sana Jaffery noted. Vandalism is everywhere and providing the products in restrooms is a sign that MHS cares, Jaffery added.

“There’s a reason those receptacles exist,” Jaffery said. “It is one of the school’s responsibilities to make sure their students are thriving in the best way they can in the school environment. What better way is there to do that then by making sure students won’t have to worry about things like pads and tampons?” While she did know about menstrual products in the office, many other students do not, Jaffery noted. If the school cannot provide products in bathrooms due to financial reasons, it is up to the students to create a change, Jaffery added. “If anything, it should be mentioned in student handbooks, but I feel like the school wouldn’t want to offend those sensitive to topics like menstruation,” Jaffery said. “At this point, it’s kind of tell as many people as you can and spread the word.”

COURTESY OF KAZIM JAFRI

Saratoga Springs had a pool that students could swim in. Students lounged by the poolside, fired water guns from home, and cannonballed into the pool.

THE UNION

PRO Student Handbook a handy resource; review of rules a benefit to students It has been about six weeks out those who do or don’t need since we returned to the norto read the handbook, it can be malcy of school life, and nothing helpful to go over the guidelines could have better kickstarted again, in case students have forour entrance into a new school gotten some policies, or if there year than the review of school are some new guidelines that stuguidelines in the MHS Parent/ dents may not be aware of. Student Handbook, nothing In fact, there is some informamore refreshing than an analysis tion that can be very useful to reof our ancient ordinances. turning students, such as where Fresh and returning students to turn in community service(its alike were given the rousing asturbulence over the past few signment of treading thirty-four years can be confusing), graduapages of text, and teachtion and Senior Awards ers seemed to be just requirements, and conas excited by reading tact information for through their selectthe many administraed range of pages as we tors on campus. were. And sure, all of this But, in spite of this information can be collective lack of enfound on the MHS thusiasm in reading the website; however, it’s rules of our long-estabalways useful to have a lished institution, this tactile resource. It has mundane and seeminga map, which is useful ERIC ly fruitless exercise ofto have when most loDE GUZMAN fers significant merit. cations on campus are First and most obvibunches of letters and ously, new students will be innumbers. formed of all the guidelines and Thinking of studying at the liinformation they need to start brary one day? You can find the the school year. Most likely, whole library schedule in the policies at MHS will differ from handbook. those at Milpitas middle schools Finally, when it comes to the or other high schools, so it’s process of actually reading the important that newcomers are handbook during class time, it aware of the differences. can be beneficial not for students One unavoidable consequence, to jump straight into academics, however, is having all students but to take their time getting read the handbook, due to the back into the school rhythm. impossible logistics of finding Besides the information in the out which classes have new stuhandbook, the yearly ritual of dents and which do not. reading regulations is at its core, This brings me to the returning routine, and the exercise can be students; in addition to aforea metronome for the rest of our mentioned issues with singling school activity this year.

CON

Student Handbook a waste of time, taken very lightly by most Trojans Reading over the school handhas already finished reading the book on the first day of school is handbook. unwise for everyone. I don’t think This isn’t even taking into acreading the handbook is very imcount the students that are absent portant. And if the administration in the first couple of days, such as still insists on teachers reading the those still on vacation with their handbook in class, I think it should family. Now this information that at least be moved to a the administration inweek later to suit their sists should reach all of needs better. the students never quite At least half of the makes it to all of them. teachers I had on the first The best solution is to day of school barely even simply have the handgave a moment’s notice book online and manto the handbook and just datory for parents and skimmed it in the space students to read. They of two minutes. They should sign off somejust wanted to get to their where in the registration own materials and lesson packet that they have JONATHAN plan, which I think is unread the handbook and TRAN derstandable. Teachers understand the rules and are already given as little conduct of MHS. That time as it is to teach their students way, upset parents and students what they need to know by the end can’t come to administration later of the year, and completely denying and claim that they were not aware them the chance to start any curof a certain rule. People have the riculum on the first day is a poor tendency to not read contracts that decision. they sign off on, but that’s no exMHS should instead defer handcuse. book reading to the second week That being said, I think some of of school. As for schedules, the the information in the handbook is reading of the handbook often incredibly useful. This includes the takes place in the first ten minteacher and classified staff direcutes of class. But when schedules tory, the bell schedules, important are at their most fluid during the dates to remember, the MHS Quick first week of school, kids are being Contact Reference Sheet, and the pulled out of classes and dropped school map. These are great things into them usually within the first to keep for next year’s handbook. ten minutes, when names are Additionally, none of these items called. If they’re heading up to the need any explanation— they are office to check on their schedule self-explanatory and laid out very and find out why their name isn’t well. The information they contain on the roster, they’re potentialis presented in a neat and concise ly missing information from the manner, and is useful to any MHS handbook. By the time students student of any grade. Everything are where they’re supposed to be, else currently in the handbook can it’s likely that their new teacher be relegated to an online document.

OPINIONS

SEPTEMBER 2018

Higher pay for teachers is a necessary change Teachers aren’t really paid enough. Yeah, we verbally bash some of the instructors of MHS for incompetence, malice, or malicious incompetence from time to time, but we attend what is overall a pretty good school, and we should be grateful for it, and we should show it. I believe that raising pay for our teachers could benefit Milpitas as a whole. Consider the following: Milpitas is growing at breakneck pace. We live in the fastest growing city in Silicon Valley, the second-fastest growing city in California, and the eighth-fastest growing city in the United States. Milpitas is building new residential districts all the time, and we’ve even opened a new elementary school. Not only that, but there’s even a new BART station showing up soon. We’re going to need new teachers eventually, and we’re going to need to bait them in somehow. Speaking of getting new teachers, there are plenty of classes that our school doesn’t have but should have that we need teachers for. Case in point: AP Computer Science. It seems inimical to American values that we should not have the opportunity to learn a skill so fundamental, a skill literally holding up modern society.

There’s got to be a way to draw in com- Yet. But when one thinks about it, the puter science teachers--oh yeah, bet- raised taxes will pay for themselves: ter wages. And that goes for any class by attracting new teachers with difwe’d like to have but don’t. ferent qualifications, the average Personally, I’ve had more than my Milpitan will be better educated, and share of teachers that made learn- doesn’t a better educated populace ing--dare I say it?--fun, engaging, benefit us all? and interesting. I know Of course, some of my that despite my enjoyother readers are wonderment, I didn’t make it easy ing if more teachers are atfor them and neither did tracted to teaching due to many others. For bearing increased pay, won’t more the stressful and ignobad teachers be introduced minious position of pseuto the system, too? I say do-babysitter, I feel that there’s a bad apple in every teachers get paid too little bin, but that doesn’t mean for too much work. you can throw all the good There’s that old adage: A ones out. Besides, more country is only as great as teachers means more marKIRK its most miserable citizen. ket competition, meaning TRAN Well, I say that our country whatever teachers do come will only ever be as educatout of that forge we call the ed as its baseline, public education, hiring process will be that much betallows. Raising pay for teachers will ter. only, if anything, attract more people I don’t think what I ask for is too with different skill sets to bring to the much. I think when teaching is detable. rided as a stressful, low-pay profesI know more than some of my read- sion where instructors have to half ers are wondering: how will we ac- babysit, half teach, we should ameliocommodate for the pay raise? They’ll rate that problem in, at the very least, ask, “Won’t taxes be raised, bringing one way: increasing the pay to someinconvenience to us all?” Okay, prob- thing a little more reasonable. ably not, because none of us pay them.

CLOG Training is ineffective and inconvenient At the beginning of every I often compare these trainschool year, I look forward to ings to algebra class. I have CLOG Rush. For the first few already learned and mastered days of school. However, before algebra years ago, and there I can run free across the green, is no yearly test to make sure I must go through the dread- my mathematical ability is adfully pain-staking procedure equate. Officer Training seems that is Officer Trainto be something so ing. Every year, CLOG important, more imOfficers are mandated portant than a basic to attend a two-hour foundation in algebra, snoozefest under duthat I have to carve ress of not being able out two hours of my to charter. life, from which I ulI understand the timately gain nothing. importance of teachThe first hour of ing student leaders this exercise conthe rules for running sists of student starCLOGs for the sake ing at Chromebooks of protecting Milpitas while someone drones ANDREW DINH High during audits. Obon about guidelines. viously, all new offiIn today’s digital age, cers should experience information goes in the spectacle that is Officer one ear and out the other, esTraining so they understand pecially when I have infinite the ropes. However, veteran of- distractions at my fingers on ficers should not be forced to the desks in the form of a lapattend another training for ev- top. My disinterest at hearing ery single year they decide to the same script year after year assume a leadership position in makes me tune out, rendering clubs. the goal of the training as com-

pletely moot. The second hour consists of the same trite “leadership building” activity littered with platitudes about how better to lead. Drawing shapes while sitting back-to-back with my friends does not teach me about the importance of communication. Growing into an effective leader does not happen because of supposedly relatable Stephen Curry metaphors. Rather, students learn how to become better figureheads among their peers through action and experience leading. ASB should demonstrate leadership by developing an effective yet engaging alternative for the drag that is Officer Training. For example, ASB should offer digital modules filled with refreshers about the CLOG rules as a way to make sure everyone is up to date on the rules. That way, I won’t have to spend another afternoon dozing off and waiting for CLOG Rush to come so I can forget about my wasted two hours.

Online education classes are often substandard Anyone taking online PE? As surreal a question as that may sound, I know of at least a couple peers who are already taking an online physical education class, presumably to fulfill graduation requirements. But with the advent of new online high schools such as California Connections Academy and Insight Schools of California, it does seem as if the old brick-andmortar academic experience is becoming unnecessary. Certainly, taking certain online classes can help free up space in students’ schedules, such as those that may not be too pertinent to their career path. Having taken an online U.S. History course over the summer before my junior year, I can affirm that being able to take these classes grants some flexibility to my academic career. So why not make the full jump into cyberspace? Why are we still sitting at our desks here, if we could be going to high school in the privacy and comfort of our home and computer? Even in school, it’s almost certain that you have used a Chromebook in class to do certain assignments. The main benefit of an offline

school setting is going outside. Aside from the health benefits of getting some sunlight and fresh air(as fresh as you can get in Milpitas, that is), we as young adults need the high school experience. There are certain things that physical high school has that an online class just cannot provide. First a nd ERIC foremost, DE GUZMAN the biggest drawback of an online course is not interacting with peers face-to-face. It is unlikely that you will make any friends in an online class, especially if you are just in it for the credits as I was. Sure, there may be online discussions and group assignments, but as we all know, online interaction is impersonal, and anything anyone says is behind the privacy of a computer screen. It will be impossible to really get to know anyone.

In addition, having a fully online set of classes means you’ll likely be in front of a screen for much longer than you already are, and for some of us(myself included), screen time is already extensive. Eyestrain and headache are among the side effects of prolonged computer use, according to some experts from Sharecare. Unless you can create a healthy schedule for yourself, including physical activity and breaks from the screen, you may be treading down a dangerous road. Finally, taking online courses will not prepare you for college, let alone life. Online courses, whether high school or college level, are devoid of any of the social interactions present in most jobs, be it interviews or conversing with colleagues. If your primary actions in life consist of viewing and typing, I daresay you aren’t really living at all. Some of us may have taken the high school experience for granted; and sure, it’s not perfect. But I believe it is an effective enough stepping stone into the real world; online education is just not a viable substitute.

SEPTEMBER 2018

EDITOR I A L : The Opinion of The Union

Dishonesty on college apps a foolish manuever; students lose the most from lying to colleges For many people, college will be one of the most important stages of their life. But with college and other forms of higher education comes an application process, often a challenging one. This process includes seeking out schools, reading up on their unique application process, writing essays for their specific writing prompts, and listing your academic track record, among many other things. With the rise of streamlined applications that can be used by different colleges via portals such as the Common App, some of this burden on the aspiring college student has been eased . But something that never disappears is the temptation to lie on a college application to appear more favorable to a college admissions officer. It is the opinion of The Union that lying in these applications is an unwise and immoral choice. Being caught in a deceptive act such as this is a great way for an application to be tossed aside and not considered. Many applicants will manage to get away clean with a couple white lies here and there on their application— maybe they only worked for three hours at a homeless shelter instead of seven— but the more egregious lies, the ones that can more easily make or break a student’s application if true, are verified by the college more often than most students would expect. It is a very common belief that because there are so many applicants

to a school, the school would never have the time to check up on all the accomplishments listed in individual applications. This is sometimes true, but other times it can work in the reverse. The more competitive a school is, the more likely it is that there are lies woven into the essays or achievements of the applicant, and it drives these schools to be a little more careful when reading them. They will not hesitate to call the high school of a student to check the validity of that student’s more impressive achievements. If any of said achievements turns out to be false or vastly exaggerated, that college will strike the student from their potential student list and even contact other colleges to relay this falsehood. As much as these colleges may compete against one another, it is a generally accepted fact that the only place cheaters are welcome are on a shared college blacklist. But fear of being caught should not be the reason motivating students to remain as truthful as possible when they apply to a school. As stated before, college is immeasurably meaningful to those that aspire to it, an achievement that said students will work toward for their entire lives up to that moment. After all, college is immeasurably important to the future career and interests of any student, which provides some motivation to be deceptive. That is not to say college is the final determinant in whether or not an

individual will enjoy success later on in life, nor is it an excuse to lie on those applications, but it does provide some insight into why someone would do so. But those participating in such a deceitful practice should stop and consider what it says about them as a person and their character. It is entirely impossible to be a perfect applicant to any college. College admissions in general are still largely a black box and, at best, applicants can only hope to guess at what these colleges are looking for, or the checklist they are using as they read through a student’s application. Lying about anything as one prepares for college speaks to the lack of self-confidence and negative self-image of that applicant. Rather than trying to be a perfect person to these colleges, focus instead on accepting flaws, owning them, and turning them into interesting talking points when constructing an application or essays. Talk about mistakes, what you learned from them, and remaining hopeful for the future, hopefully at that dream college. Think about those essays as ways for not just colleges to get to know you but ways for you to learn more about yourself through self-acceptance and inner reflection. That makes for an interesting application, one more likely to get you accepted into the colleges you apply to. Misleading facts and figures will ultimately accomplish only the opposite.

‘The Namesake’ replaces ‘The Joy Luck Club’ For several years now, the English With one of the novels following curriculum for juniors has been Chinese characters and the other remarked by the inclusion of Amy Tan’s volving around a Bengali family, it’s “The Joy Luck Club,” to the point easy to see why they were integrated where it was the mandatory reading into the curriculum. With the diverse for anyone who took Honors English. population at MHS, featuring signifThis year however, “The Joy Luck icant East and South Asian populaClub” has been removed from the tions, including these books is an easy English curriculum and replaced in- way to reach out and appeal to the destead by “The Namesake,” written by mographics. Jhumpa Lahiri. While the books do have some difThe “Joy Luck Club” centers around ferences, such as decade in which they four pairs of Ameritake place and where they are can-born daughters physically set, they are uncanand Chinese immigrant nily similar. Both deal with mothers: the Woos, themes of family, immigrant Hsus, Jongs, and St. identity, and generational Claires.The book splits strife among many others. off into two sections deLooking at the two in terms of voted to the daughters how they address these topics, and two that revolve they do a good job, but as novaround their mothers’ els themselves, each is flawed. stories, allowing us to Though “The Joy Luck see the similarities and Club” attempts to portray ISHRAK differences in their exdifferent aspects of the imRAMZAN periences. migrant experience, through The main characters each of the four daughters, it of “The Namesake” doesn’t actually accomplish are Gogol, the child of Bengali immi- this very well. Throughout the novel grants Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, we see the perspectives of seven inwith the novel following them as Go- dividual narrators, but even so the gol grows up in Cambridge, Massa- characters all feel quite alike. When chusetts. We see him start school, go this is combined with the choppy naroff to college, and go out into the real rative style and format of the book, it world as an adult, all while trying to becomes difficult to keep the different find out who he really is.

THE UNION

EDITORIAL

characters’ storylines unentangled. Regarding “The Namesake,” one of its most glaring issues was how anticlimactic it was, there is never any significant tension to grip the reader. The novel felt tepid and dull, with Gogol never becoming particularly devoted to anything as he wanders around looking for an identity. Even when he faces significant loss, Gogol remains detached. Throughout the whole novel he never experiences any catharsis. At the same time, Gogol never feels fully fleshed out as a character, and by the end of the novel, I still felt like I didn’t have a good idea of who he was. Supporting characters like Ashima or childhood friend Moushumi felt more defined and memorable than the character for which the novel was titled, diverting attention and focus from the main character, both while reading and while discussing the novel in class. Both of the novels should be praised for their unique subject matter and for being groundbreaking at the time of their releases. They are by no means terrible, although they aren’t terrific either, and each having a unique set of flaws. Supplanting “The Joy Luck Club” in favor of “The Namesake” is a decision that ultimately has a rather small effect on the students at MHS and their English education.

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SEPTEMBER 2018

FEATURES

Wang embarks on computer science journey BY Theodore Do

For many students, summer is a time to break apart from school burdens. Some choose to spend their summer exercising and working out to become more physically fit. Others find jobs to save up money for college or to spend on personal activities. Junior Samuel Wang participated at a research internship at the Computer Science and Engineering Department of the University of California, San Diego. There, he collaborated with professors, graduate students, undergraduates, and other high schoolers to tackle different topics with an emphasis on computer science for a month. “I recognized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Wang said. “Not only would I get an early glimpse of college and graduate school life, I would also have the chance to publish actual

academic papers as a contributor.” The research group worked on two different projects, spending day and night running countless computer simulations and crunching millions of numbers, Wang said. One project revolved around the mathematical concept known as graph theory; the other pertained to the medical field, involving a new method of measuring an individual’s blood pressure. “What if there was a way to measure blood pressure without a cuff?” Wang said as he was explaining the logistics of his medical-related project. “Every day was spent logging blood pressure data using various methods and techniques in order to construct a model that might one day make this a reality.” Wang was referred to the program by a person who knew the professor, Wang said. It was an

enlightening and eye-opening experience, giving Wang insight to his interests in the future, he added. “Looking back, I really do have to say that I am looking forward to studying in college and potentially spending my whole career on doing research and exploring the wonders of our fine-tuned universe,” Wang said. Participating in the research meant that Wang had to learn a considerable amount before taking to action. Although he tried learning computer coding on his own, he had never done anything extensive or considerably advanced before. “Before I joined, I knew nothing of the existence of graph theory or the potential applications of ballistocardiography,” Wang said. “Diving deep into these subjects made me feel like a child again--exploring the vast world for the first time.”

Oath Internship provides valuable lessons BY Vivian Tsang

Over the summer, 21 juniors and seniors from the Digital Business, Engineering and Technology, and Travel and Tourism Academies had the opportunity to participate in a five-week internship with Oath, a subsidiary of Verizon. The internship was available to students as result of a partnership with the National Academy Foundation (NAF). Before getting accepted into the internship, students prepared resumes and participated in on-campus interviews, and were afterwards notified if they had been accepted or not. For many, it was their first real, paid work experience. The first few weeks of the internship started with learning coding languages such as Javascript and how to display code on the internet with Github, Senior Aman Gupta said. Students also learned about rudimentary project management skills and how to use Adobe Spark in order to give professional presentations, Gupta added. The purpose of the internship was to professionally present a website that each team made to address and promote inclusion, according to Senior Rama Amourah. “My team made a resource meant to teach high school students about what diversity is, and why it matters in high school clubs, and to some extent, society in general,” Amourah said. “We also had to make a presentation

VIVIAN TSANG, MAANSI MASKAI | THE UNION

Mental health help is available BY Theodore Do

COURTESY OF DEBRA CAIRES

(Starting from the bottom-left, clockwise) Seniors Judy Zhang and Jonathan Dinh and Juniors Yongtao Guan and Elijah Bryant partake in a bonding activity.

targeted at one of Oath’s brands that provides feedback and suggestions for the user experience and user interface of their apps.” The internship was incredibly useful and gave her a better sense of what working in the real world was like, Amourah said. She gained critical skills for success that would have been unattainable in an academic setting, she added. “One of my favorite parts of the

internship was how much creative freedom we had--we were given small projects throughout the five weeks and told, ‘go for it!’” Junior Chloe Wang said. “I also really loved the competitive aspect. Our mentors had each group compete against each other, to encourage us to push our limits and do better. However, I think a lot of us enjoyed the free daily breakfast and lunch the most.”

La hosts art exibition ‘Endless Summer’ BY Kelly Nguyen

Summer is filled with music festivals, beach days, and road trips. However, Senior Calvin La stepped outside the box and introduced his own art exhibition, Endless Summer, to Local Color, an art gallery venue. He brought together a community of artists, including photographers, musicians, and painters, who displayed their artwork in San Jose, La said. La’s initial goal was to bring together a diverse community and give artists a unique platform to spread their creativity, La said. Artists from all around the Bay Area came out and there was not one specific medium of art, La said. The weeks of preparation that went into Endless Summer included brainstorming ideas, organizing paperwork, and contacting artists, La said. “It was a bit hard with it just

being me,” La said. “If I could find a team that really shared my vision, [it would] help take the stress off me and still keep the event on the path I want.” La is a photographer himself, so he was able to relate to the other artists and their difficulty networking with other creators, La said. Not only does La capture candid moments, but he also tries to bond with his clients and make the experience enjoyable, La said. The artists he chose shared the same creative vision as him, only demonstrated in different artistic forms, not just photography, La said. “I picked artists based on what they made me feel,” La said. “There’s a lot of artists who just do it for trends and stuff like that.” La juggled with the responsibility of organizing an entire event alone, contacting performers and following up with

vendors. Despite the performers who canceled last minute, La still managed to recruit 20 artists and improvise with a Q&A session, La said. The event held roughly 200 people of all ages, La said. His only regret is that the event was not intimate and homey enough, but this only encourages him to begin another project and art exhibition in December, La said. “People really believed in my vision,” La said. “I was so glad I was able to meet so many different people of different ages.” Despite the minor setbacks, La learned new artistic perspectivies and was able to expand his network among several inspiring artists. He brought artists with distinguished and innovative styles and rounded them up into one gallery for the public to enjoy. The audience’s feedback was amazing, and his next showcase in the winter is not one to miss!

MHS provides a multitude of services for students, including the health office, school counseling, and mental health services such as CASSY (Counseling And Support Services for Youth) counseling. Among these services are staff members with roles as school psychologists. There are three school psychologists at MHS: Darinisha Williams, Noheli Guerrero, and Rebecca Cole. School psychologists at MHS are involved in a variety of roles, including counseling, mental health, crisis intervention, behavior support, and school assessment, according to Cole. Although school psychologists have similar roles to CASSY counselors, such as helping in mental health services, they also have other roles, Cole said. “For school psychologists, only one of their roles is counseling, so they have a few different jobs; the main ones are assessment, consultation, and counseling,” Cole said. “The CASSY counselor’s primary hat is counseling, so they’ll do some case management, link you guys up with outside agencies, talk to your parents, and do some crisis intervention.” School psychologists are able to evaluate and deal with different situations of crisis, Guerrero said. Psychologists have to make sure students are not a threat to themselves or others in the classroom,

she said. “It is a lot of de-escalation sometimes. Students are not willing to talk to you immediately so [sometimes] you are just there showing that you are supporting them,” Guerrero said. “In that situation, you can’t go away because you want to make sure that they are safe.” If students have an emergency or need to talk, Cole recommends that they should talk to any adult immediately, rather than emailing a specific psychologist. Once the administrators receive the information, they will route the students to one of the school psychologists or CASSY counselors, she said. “You guys are under a lot more stress than I was and most of the administrators were when they were in high school, so we’re figuring out for you guys what you need,” Cole said. School psychologists can talk to anyone on the campus based on their need, Cole said. They are there for everybody, she continued. “We have a very unique role in that we can support academics and socialemotional development, so we have a very ‘whole’ child perspective that we get to work with, and I find that to be super rewarding,” Cole said. To contact the school psychologists, students can look through the staff information of their student handbooks for emails and room numbers.

THE UNION

LIFESTYLE

SEPTEMBER 2018

JONATHAN TR AN | THE UNION

College applications require self-reflection BY Luke Ren

If you’re a sulking, lazy senior, or an underclassman curious about how to get started with your college career, I have some good tips for you. Do you not know what you want to pursue for the rest of your life? Are you having difficulty deciding which colleges to apply to? Are you having trouble motivating yourself to write college apps? What do you even write for the essay? Let’s jump right into it. How do you pick your passion? Here’s what I did. Pick two or three subjects that you are even mildly interested in. Watch some sort of educational video regarding that subject on Youtube. If you find yourself watching a stream of videos about microbiology for hours, that might just be the one. If you find yourself constantly dazing in and out of consciousness, maybe you should look elsewhere. If you find a subject that you might be “passionate” about, now it’s time to pick colleges.

This is where college counselors really come in handy. Figure out what kind of environment you’re comfortable with. Do you struggle with being in a crowded space like MHS? Do you need a local boba shop to satisfy your milk tea cravings? Keep these in mind as you are picking colleges. Find what programs the college offers for your ideal major and also what internships are nearby. Figure out which companies go to each college to search for potential employees. One thing you shouldn’t worry as much about is rank. In ten years, it won’t matter which college you attended. How do you even start writing essays? Find a group of friends and book a study room at the library. The study rooms and your friends are there for a reason. Try to propose an idea like this in the least nerdy or geeky way possible. Propose it less like a study party or college workshop boot camp and more like just a time and space where you are forced to think and

work on college apps. How do you even write essays? The essay prompts are designed to be as general as possible so that each individual can answer in their own unique way. The most common advice is to pick a particular event or talent and elaborate only on that event. Be specific, be genuine, and be you. Don’t spend too much time focusing on what happened; focus on how it affected you. Don’t only talk about how you’ve grown into some mature genius; talk about how you failed and are ready to grow more. Just write the way you talk. A good way to tell if you have written a good essay is if it was handed to your friends without a name on it, they would be able to trace it back to you. Why do you have to listen to some hotshot talk about how to write your college apps? You don’t. In the end, ask your friends, teachers, and anyone else you want for help. The important thing is that you spend some time thinking about it.

MHS cafeteria offers new savory menu options BY Devyn Nguyen Luke Ren

Don’t fear when night is here BY Kirk Tran

Since the dawn of mankind, darkness has been associated with danger and dread; it is the time we are most docile and therefore most vulnerable, the time that our most fearsome predators are active, and the time it is easiest for our brethren to stab us in the back. In other words, night is bad news. You can get stabbed, raped, or kidnapped, so here’s a BuzzFeedstyle list of ways you can avoid those situations when going home. Hitch a Ride Why bother with spooky scary ol’ night when you can hitch a ride with a friend or family member? Cars exist for a reason. Cars, with their superior armored chassis, ramming capabilities, large range of travel, and capacity for getaways, are my highest-rated mode of transportation: the winner of the Kirk Tran Safety and Not-Dying Award. Have a Companion Every leader, be it Mussolini, Nobunaga, Obama, or Queen Elizabeth, understands the value of manpower. People are wonderful resources with many uses: food, transport, physical power, homework assistance, government document forgery, and more. Bring a friend with you if you’re going home alone in the dark. Your friend, whoever they might be, can provide comforting conversation in the dark and encouraging backup against the malevolent forces of the night. Stop Looking at Your Phone Yeah, that’s right, you. Don’t pretend you don’t get off on the dopamine and serotonin high checking that magic flashy music

box gives you. Maybe you won’t get hurt if you look around and notice the homeless guy eyeing you menacingly with flashing steel in his hand, or if you see that foaming rabid squirrel crouching in malicious wait behind that bush. You never know. Bring Your Phone and Flash It If you let any evildoer around you know that you have an active, convenient, and effective communication device that you can draw on the quick, he’ll be less likely to attack you. It may not seem like much, but it goes a long way. It’s the same reason why people lock their doors at night when any dedicated burglar could break in: every bit of deterrence helps, and cautious kidnappers won’t aim for a prepared mark. Get in Shape What do you do if all else fails and your only tool is your agility? If you have a pack of blubber strapped on, it’ll weigh you down and make you a bigger target. Conversely, scarecrows are easy to overpower and manhandle. Nobody wants to pick a fight with a relatively fit guy or gal, so do yourself a favor and become that person. Inform People of Your Whereabouts Tell your parents or your friends or anyone who cares about you where you are or are going to be. Chances are they’ll realize something’s up if you don’t come home when you say you will. Sure, you might be tempted to blow your friends or parents off with, “Ugh, what are you, my mom?” (The answer to that might just be “Yes.”) but putting up with irritations is preferable to getting put into an early grave.

With the start of the new school year, MHS has introduced new food items to its menu. These new menu items are listed at every satellite kitchen; however, the majority of the new items are only available at the main cafeteria. Here are reviews of several of the new menu items. Teriyaki Chicken and Egg Roll This is one of the few items that is available at the satellite kitchens. If you’re looking for some classic Americanized Asian food, this pick will satisfy your needs. While the egg roll is rather plain and bitter, the value that you can get from the meal as a whole is pretty worth it. I typically tend to get hungry again later in the day, but the carbs from the chicken, rice, and egg roll satisfy me until dinner. Basically, if you want a value meal and do not

mind the fake Chinese food, the teriyaki chicken with eggroll is the way to go. Fried Chicken with Waffle and Syrup If you like lots of salt, fried food, and whole wheat waffles, you’re going to love this combination of American food. Though there is not much value in this meal with only one piece of fried chicken, this meal might be one of the tastier options. The syrup comes in a warm little plastic tray and has the consistency of water. When you pour the syrup on the dry-textured waffles, you end up with a soggy, whole-wheat rag that honestly doesn’t taste half bad. Out of all of the menu options, this is probably the most popular purely because of the fried chicken. Macaroni and Cheese Macaroni and cheese has always been a go-to comfort food. The nice texture and cheesy

goodness of macaroni and cheese has attracted everyone to this delectable food. Much to the joy of many students, when macaroni and cheese was introduced, it quickly became a must try food. However, the macaroni and cheese is a severe disappointment. With low amounts of cheese that is drowned out by the macaroni, a key component is taken away from the normally cheesy good. The macaroni itself has a strange texture that feels like some sort of goop inside of the mouth and takes the structure of the tray which it comes in, even forming corners. The macaroni and cheese is a huge disappointment and should be avoided in all cases. There are many new foods not listed here that we suggest students try out. If you’re craving something new and want to spice up your lunch, these new lunch items will surely satisfy your cravings.

Honey Creme serves cool, delicious treats BY Kelly Nguyen

Honey Creme, a modern South Korean dessert cafe, recently opened in Milpitas at 686 Barber Lane, near other popular restaurants. Honey Creme offers soft serve ice cream, iced teas, and frozen yogurt. There was a decent amount of people on a Saturday evening. The ambience of the cafe was bright and welcoming, accompanied by friendly workers. After waiting for five to ten minutes, all three soft serve ice cream orders arrived in a mini cup, topped with cotton candy, honeycomb, and cereal bits. The vanilla soft serve, the base of the dessert itself, was slightly sweet, but mostly bland. There was no distinct flavor, which was disappointing. However, each of the toppings added a unique flavor to the vanilla ice cream, creating three different combinations. First, their most popular topping,

the honeycomb, added a sweeter taste; however, it lacked a true honey flavor and there was nothing special to it. The stickiness of the honey stuck to the sides of the cup, which was hard to remove. Overall, I would not recommend this topping for anyone looking for a creamier, smooth consistency. The cotton candy topping created an interesting texture with the ice cream, both melting to create a perfect fuse of velvety goodness. However, the soft serve with cereal bits was the real winner! After a while, the creaminess of the soft serve melted in with the cereal bits, creating a milky sweet flavor. The blend of crunchiness from the cereal bits and sweetness from the caramel transformed the rather dull vanilla soft serve into a bowl of cereal—delicious! Overall, the honeycomb topping is rated 2.5 out of 5 stars, the cotton candy topping is rated 4 out of 5 stars, and the cereal topping

ANDREW DINH | THE UNION

Sweet cotton candy poofs out of Honey Creme’s signature soft serve.

is rated 5 out of 5 stars. For $4-$5, the ice cream cups were smaller than anticipated, and the soft serve itself was nothing out of the ordinary. Honey Creme is recommended for sweet tooths craving creamy soft serve with an extra added twist!

THE UNION

SEPTEMBER 2018

ENTERTAINMENT

RATING KEY Lemon-pepper Buffalo Mango Habanero Teriyaki Garlic Parmesan Music Reviews

Courtesy of Simon & Schuster

New Yorker Rachel Chu embraces her “Crazy Rich” boyfriend Nick Young. She soon experiences a rude shock when she is immersed in the snobby, opulent Singaporean society that her seemingly normal boyfriend has been brought up in.

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ wild box office success RATING (Out of 5 wings)

BY Maansi Maskai Vivian Tsang

When the highly anticipated movie, “Crazy Rich Asians,” released on Aug. 15, many flocked to theaters to watch the groundbreaking romantic comedy that defied Hollywood “norms.” It is the first film in almost 25 years to have an allAsian cast, since “The Joy Luck Club.” Directed by John M. Chu, “Crazy Rich Asians” is based on Kevin Kwan’s novel of the same name. Rachel Chu, played by Constance Wu, is a ChineseAmerican economics professor

at New York University. Rachel origins. However, in the end, Nick decides to follow her history and Rachel’s love triumphs. professor boyfriend, Nick Young, Rachel Chu is certainly the played by Henry Golding, on his major selling factor of “Crazy trip back to Singapore. Rich Asians.” Unlike most Rachel hopes to spend time romantic comedy heroines, with Nick’s family in an effort Rachel is not portrayed as a “hot to get to know them, but she has mess” or a “gold digger.” no idea what she has signed up Although the plot of the movie for. Rachel’s first encounter can be mainstream at times with Nick’s wealth comes with Rachel encountering when they are ushered onto jealous exes and petty a private airplane suite. sabotage, the opulence MOVIE presented on screen Arriving in Singapore, REVIEW certainly makes up for Rachel realizes that Nick’s family is tight-knit, it. The lifestyles that the exclusive, and snobby. “crazy rich” Asians maintain are Nick’s mother, Eleanor Young, apparent in their unique, colorful played by Michelle Yeoh, openly attire. disapproves of Rachel due to her The film is certainly a detour “humble, improper background.” from the action and dramas films Eleanor fails to realize that this that dominate Hollywood. “Crazy glitzy world is still a novelty to Rich Asians” is for those looking Rachel, who comes from humble for an offbeat, engaging watch.

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‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ has arrived; love letters result in unexpected relationship RATING (Out of 5 wings)

BY Kelly Nguyen

On Aug. 17, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” was released on Netflix to viewers. “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” is a coming-of-age film that stars Asian-American actress Lana Condor and her co-star, Noah Centineo. Directed by Susan Johnson and adapted from Jenny Han’s novel, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” received acclaim from the Asian-American community. It is unlikely to see true representation of Asians in today’s films, and typical stereotypes alter perspectives on how Asians truly behave in real-

life situations. personality, showcase Lara Jean The main character, Lara Jean as a relatable character. Covey, played by Lana Condor, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved writes love letters and hides them Before” is a comedic, romantic, away in her closet, suppressing and coming-of-age film all in her feelings. Her little sister one. The only flaw to this rather sends the letters to five boys and charming film is in comparison to watches the mess unravel. As the novel. Although the director her faux relationship with skipped out on some key Peter Kavinsky, played by points in the novel, she still Noah Centineo, progresses, managed to encapsulate Lara Jean finds herself the novel’s storyline. More MOVIE importantly, the character in a dilemma and finally REVIEW development of Lara Jean confronts how she feels. The vintage, charismatic and her relationship with scenes in “To All the Boys I’ve Peter Kavinsky is cohesively Loved Before” capture true portrayed through charismatic cinematic excellence and bring scenes, including the bathtub and both the characters and high pocket spinning scenes. school environment to life. All With Lara Jean, a savvy the various details, from Lara introvert, and Peter Kavinsky, a Jean’s DIY (do it yourself) messy real heartthrob, this is a must-see room to her quirky, awkward film.

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‘Monster Hunter World’ revives the franchise RATING (Out of 5 wings)

BY Jonathan Tran

“Monster Hunter World” is an amazing game that manages to get a lot right by staying true to old-school fans of Monster Hunter, while introducing new features and reworking old mechanics to cater to new and old players alike. Capcom’s venture into the American gaming market of Xbox, Playstation, and PC was definitely a strong one, with minimal issues that are nowhere near close to being deal breakers. I played all of the Monster Hunter games up to “Monster Hunter Tri” for the Nintendo Wii. For World, I played the PC edition that released seven months after its console counterparts. Many questioned why the PC edition

took so much longer to release, free. This is a stunning departure and if it was even worth the pur- from the microtransaction-ridchase, with console players hav- den video game landscape of toing such a head start. It certain- day, and yet another decision to ly didn’t cast Capcom in a good commend Capcom for strongly. light, but they explained that “Monster Hunter World” did a with PC having a much more di- wonderful job of keeping the best verse range of hardware capabil- parts of Monster Hunter while reities, it took some extra time working some older features to create an ideal experience and introducing new ones for those players. I was a litentirely. Some essential tle dubious at first, but the items such as potions only PC release turned out to be GAME take one ingredient to craft fantastic. These days, most REVIEW as opposed to two in previgame developers are obous entries; Monster Huntsessed with meeting harsh er World also introduced a deadlines and thus releasing un- monster tracking feature. When I finished games, but I’m glad to travel around a region looking for say Capcom’s decision-making a certain monster I have to hunt, I was not clouded by money here. can pick up tracks and other clues Another interesting point to to show me which area the monnote: Capcom will continue re- ster is in. leasing new, downloadable conIn conclusion, Monster Hunter tent for World in subsequent World is a spectacular game that years, such as new monsters, ar- actually lives up to the hype. It is mors, and weapons, and all for backed by a skilled developer too.

SWIMMING by Mac Miller Genre: Hip Hop/ Jazz/ Rap RATING (Out of 5 wings)

SWEETENER by Ariana Grande Genre: Pop RATING (Out of 5 wings)

BY Andrew Dinh

BY Ishrak Ramzan

Mac Miller, an American rapper hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, released “Swimming,” his fifth studio album, on Aug. 3. Miller dives into themes of love and self-care following his breakup with singer Ariana Grande. His introspective lyrics layered over jazzy production tell honest tales of personal growth. The album opens with “Come Back to Earth,” which features a beautiful and somber orchestral arrangement over which Miller croons about discovering the importance of optimism amidst his struggles with depression. After the last swelling synth, Miller picks up the pace on “Hurt Feelings” where he defends staying true to himself amidst the highs and lows of his career. Miller’s evident funk and jazz inspiration throughout the first half of the album also manifests itself in the second half. The album’s fifth track “Self Care” stands out as Miller’s strongest performance. Miller candidly reflects on his life spiralling into oblivion as he wrestles with addiction. “Ladders” follows Miller’s path of introspective thought on a more cheerful note. The ladder functions as a device for Miller to climb the rungs of life, despite his fear of falling. The album poignantly closes with “So It Goes,” an apt reference to Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five,” where the song’s title is a phrase spoken after someone’s death. Laced with melancholy, Miller contemplates the vices of fame and money and fades out to eerie synths. “Swimming” tells a tragic yet powerful tale of Miller overcoming his demons by trying his best to keep his head above water to avoid drowning. Ethereal and lush production complement Miller’s painstaking honesty with himself in quite the strong album.

Ariana Grande’s fourth studio album, “Sweetener,” was released on Aug. 17, to widespread acclaim and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Her most experimental and explicit album yet, “Sweetener” shows Grande’s skill as an artist, seen as she plays with other genres and influences throughout the album. What might be the best song off the album is the dance-pop track “breathin’.” Grande sings about feeling anxiety, but also being able to find the courage to “keep on breathin’.” The instrumental is perfectly suited for the lyrical content; it starts out subtly but builds up to a catharsis when the chorus hits. Another heavy hitter from the tracklist is the iconic “God is a woman.” This song exemplifies Grande’s skill at experimentation, blending pop with hip-hop and trap influences while using different flows. Grande delivers a powerful message about embracing and taking charge of one’s sexuality. The lyrical power of the track is supported by the high notes and harmonies Grande employs in the final chorus and outro. The weakest part of “Sweetener” is the mediocre song “the light is coming (feat. Nicki Minaj).” The track starts with Minaj delivering a strong verse, but the rest of the song is rather ordinary. The track has a stagnant instrumental, and the recurrent “You wouldn't let anybody speak for this and instead!" gets grating very quickly. Definitely the best album of Grande’s career, “Sweetener” truly doesn’t disappoint. With a track length nearing 50 minutes and containing 15 songs, it is an album that deserves time set aside to listen to it in its entirety. So, grab some good headphones and get ready to enjoy this musical masterpiece.

SEPTEMBER 2018

SPORTS

THE UNION

Lamb announces plans to retire; reminisces on coaching career BY Kirk Tran

Varsity Volleyball Coach Jeff Lamb has been a volleyball coach for 40 years: six as a JV coach and a whopping 34 as varsity coach. It is only fitting after so many years of service that he should have a chance for rest, a chance that he will receive. Lamb is planning to retire this year, he said. Lamb's coaching career passed by far faster than he expected, Lamb said. Despite the unexpected speed, Lamb will miss all of his athletes that helped him retain his youth, he also said. “The thing is to me is that I’m amazed how fast it went. I figured when I started doing this I was not that old, and now I am,” Lamb said. “The thing I am going to miss the most is the kids. That is why I went into this business in the first place and that is why I stayed, because kids help you stay young. That's why I hope I don't get too old too fast.” Looking back, Lamb will always value the camaraderie of his athletic teams. Bonds between him and his athletes held fast and lasted long, Lamb said. “I still keep in contact with a lot of my players,” Lamb said. “I have had players who have had me walk them down the aisle because their father has passed away.” Senior Volleyball Players Skylar Pitre and Christine Huynh said that they had established strong relationships with Lamb. “After playing both club (off-sea-

son volleyball) and school volleyball, I've established a tight bond with my coach,” Huynh said. “In volleyball, I know he is coaching everyone, myself included, to perform to the best of their ability. ” “Coach Lamb is like my grandpa,” Pitre said. “He has watched me grow and has helped me a lot along the way.” Lamb expressed hopes to reach Central Coast Section playoffs, but he also said that he would be satisfied regardless of result, so long as his players had a positive experience. “I was hoping that we would be good enough to get into the playoffs, which means we would have done okay in league,” Lamb said. “The most important thing for me, though, is to have a good time and have the players have a positive experience. The record will take care of itself if we are good enough. If we are not, that is okay too.” Pitre and Huynh, too, showed optimism for the season's future. Pitre said that the season could only get better, while Huynh emphasized the value of elbow grease. “We are having some rough patches, but that’s just normal, and everything from there is going up hill for the better,” Pitre said. “With everybody adjusting to changes in the season and working immensely to improve as an athlete, this season will go by smoothly,” Huynh said.

Girls Tennis vows to bounce back BY Ashley Chen

The Girls Varsity Tennis team needs a lot of improvement this season, Girls Varsity Tennis Coach Dong Pham said. The team lost their first league game to American High School on Sept. 10 with a score of 0-7 and lost two non-league games, he said. In order to improve the team, coaches want to review it and focus on building the team up early, Pham said. It would be beneficial if players started training in middle school instead of just starting to play tennis in high school, he added. “Right now we have a lot of players who start [playing tennis in] high school, and they don’t even know how to play tennis,” Pham said. “It’s tough for Milpitas High School to compete.” The team has been practicing for games, Doubles Player Katyana de Ocampo said. She has been trying to get the team to work on cshowing up to practice and supporting the the team even if they are not playing, she continued.

“[This season,] I expect to bond with my teammates and to win a few games here and there,” Ocampo said. “I’m really appreciative that I have my team with me and that they are really supportive of each other.” Everyone on the team has their own set of goals, Doubles Player Wendy Ly said. For now the team is doing okay, she added. “For me, I want to improve on my volleys and knowing other opponents’ weaknesses,” Ly said. “[I also hope to] improve on my forehand and know how to communicate with my partner for doubles, and to play smart.” The team lost many good players after the seniors graduated, Pham said. He hopes that existing players will work hard and practice to improve, he said. “We are not doing well right now because we have technical issues,” Pham said. “We need help.” The tennis courts need to be repainted, Ocampo said. It would be great if the school could help, she said.

Scrempos describes football career BY Maansi Maskai

Senior Justin Scrempos is a MHS Varsity football player. In an interview with The Union, Scrempos describes his passion for the sport and why he has remained committed to football for so long. Scrempos has been playing football since he was in fifth grade, Scrempos stated. He started on the varsity football team at MHS during freshman year, playing offensive line, he added. “[I love] the whole feel of the sport and being with the guys who are like family to me,” Scrempos said. “Some of the guys that are on this team now, I met playing football when I was growing up; the whole family feel of [football] is the amazing part.”

Scrempos has suffered some injuries such as two broken fingers and a high ankle sprain, Scrempos said. However, he has bounced back and continues to practice, he added. “[I] got more physically and mentally strong,” Scrempos said. “[I am] getting stronger and faster everyday.” Although football comes with a set of challenges, Scrempos finds many aspects of the sport to be quite fulfilling. For Scrempos, his favorite memory of football comes from when the MHS varsity team won State Championships last year, Scrempos said. In college, Scrempos hopes to continue playing football, he said. However, school will always be the main priority, he added.

KIRK TRAN THE UNION

Varsity Water Polo Player Brian Tran (16) “walks the ball” away. with a smile, from a chasing opponent player during the home game against the Fremont Firebirds on Sept. 6. The Milpitas Trojans lost 10-5.

Boys Varsity Water Polo gets “a lot better” BY Luke Ren

Boys Varsity Water Polo played against Saratoga on Sept. 18, Head Coach Brett Burns said. The team lost 15-10 in a very close match, Burns added. The team has seen great improvements this year and have played their closest two games of the season, Burns said. The game against Saratoga and Harker have been the best two games of the season, Burns added. “Each of those two games we were tied at half time which has never happened in previous years,” Burns said. “The last two games got away from us a little bit in the third and fourth quarter, but ended up being 10-5 which is not too bad of a deficit.” The game against Harker was especially close because the team had scored twelve goals, a record high for the season up to that point, Starting Goalie Matthew

Clarke said. The game was incredibly competitive, but Milpitas was unable to take the game, Clarke added. “Our team scored 12 goals, the most we’ve scored this season,” Clarke said. “Unfortunately, after [a third] close quarter, Harker pulled ahead and we lost 12-21.” These losses have become huge indicators of which aspects the team needs to focus on, Hole Set Anthony Nguyen said. The biggest drawback that led to the team’s downfall was the inability to coordinate and pull through, Nguyen added. “A lot of our games got out of hand because we got gassed and gave up goals off of counters or just lacked communication on defense,” Nguyen said. “We'll definitely be working on our conditioning and communication during practice so that we don't give up easy goals.” The team focused extra hard on

improving on their weak points, Burns said. However, the team still has many areas to work on, Burns added. “In the last couple of games, they have gotten a lot better at communicating, movement, and awareness. Those [were] our biggest weaknesses in the previous games,” Burns said. “We’re getting better, but those are the areas we need to work on the most.” With veterans that have been there since the sport was revived, the team has lots of experience to pass on to newcomers, Clarke said. The team sees a lot of potential in its Frosh-Soph team, Clarke added. “We have a lot of returners from previous years which means the team is doing well in terms of the knowledge of water polo,” Clarke said. “We as seniors want to prepare the JV team as much as possible before we graduate this school year.”

SEPTEMBER 2018

NEWS

T HE U NION

A DVA NCED PL ACEM EN T SCOR E S Subject

Total

Biology

Calculus AB

105

152

Calculus BC

Chemistry

113

Chinese Language and Culture

Computer Science Principles

English Literature and 5 Composition

Macreconomics

Microeconomics

Music Theory

Physics 1

Physics 2

Psychology

207

Spanish Language and Culture

Statistics

162

Studio Art

United States Government and Politics

166

United States History

World History

164

Total

444

380

319

142

1335

Percent of Total Exams

100

Ashley Chen, Ishrak Ramzan | THE UNION

In May, 1335 students took Advanced Placement (AP) Exams in various subjects. The data was provided by Assistant Principal Jennifer Hutchison.

CLOG RUSH: Students describe event FROM PAGE 1 committee, Saharan said. The playlist is hosted by Spotify, Saharan also said. Beckman expressed neutrality towards the CLOG Rush soundtrack. “It’s sort of like pop music. It’s like whatever’s on 99.7 or something.” Beckman said. “I would say it’s okay.” Acts of Random Kindness Co-President Maggie Ly reported the music was mostly inaudible from the shouting. “I don’t listen to it,” Ly said. “Because everyone’s really loud.” Several people expressed grievances with CLOG Rush involving planning issues. “We almost went on the wrong day,

because one person from Leadership told our president the wrong day,” Devictor said. “It was sort of hard to find which table was ours. There was a sort of postcard at the corner of tables, but then you had to go and inspect like every single table,” Beckman said. Despite the concerns expressed about CLOG Rush, Devictor believed that CLOG Rush is a valuable institution for membership recruitment at MHS. “I feel like it could possibly be better organized, but it is a necessary thing for the clubs to actually work out,” Devictor said. “Unless we want like every club to be four members.”

JONATHAN TRAN | THE UNION

A campus safety officer stops to talk to a student on his way to class. The campus safety officers are now hired by the Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD).

MHS directly hires guards BY Ashley Chen

Campus safety officers have been hired by the district since February, Principal Francis Rojas said. They are directly accountable to the school, which was different compared to the situation when MHS used to hire security from a private company, he continued. Security is doing well, but there are minor problems to their system, Senior Brandon Lam said. The system is very unorganized and unprofessional, he continued. “This year, I believe that security is more uptight,” Lam said. “To elab-

orate, security has began to increase their control over the students. For example, I was stopped recently from going into the parking lot to pick up a textbook from a friend’s car. ” Security can improve by focusing on improving student safety on campus rather than focusing only on the perimeters of campus, Lam said. Students should be allowed to access their cars and personal belongings, he added. “Security should continue to interact with students not only as security, but as a friend to make new and current students feel welcomed to the environment,” Lam said.

MA ANSI MA ASKAI | THE UNION

Counselor Adrian Hernandez meets with Junior Valerie Lam and gives her advice regarding her classes. Originally from Henry M. Gunn High, Hernandez is a new counselor for students with last names Kl to Nguyen, L.

New administrators strive for improvement BY Vivian Tsang Maansi Maskai

MHS gained two new assistant principals and two new counselors for the 2018-2019 school year to better support the growing student population, Principal Francis Rojas said. With a larger administration team that now consists of seven people, MHS aims to provide more assistance to classrooms and close the achievement gap, Rojas added. The new staff members include Assistant Principal Jonathan Mach, a former administrator at Silver Creek High School, Assistant Principal Karissa Scott, a concurrent administrator at Calaveras Hills, Counselor Adrian Hernandez, a former counselor at Henry M. Gunn High School, and Counselor Valerie Lamb, a former advisor at San Jose State University. There were also approximately ten new teacher hires to replace teachers who had retired or moved on, according to Rojas. “The whole reason behind [adding more staff] was that for a couple years now, the growing population has needed more support here in the

office,” Rojas said. “We haven’t been able to support teachers as best as we could by being in classrooms, doing our evaluations, handling student issues, because there was so much on everyone’s plate.” A small portion of the population is not eligible for college, because they may not be passing classes or scoring well on standarized tests, Rojas said. The school needs to take a look at the students and figure out ways to support them, Rojas added. “If we know students are starting to fail, what do we do then and there,” Rojas said. “So as departments and teachers, we are looking at what we are doing to support students and how can we improve.” Upon joining MHS, one of the things she would like to do is offer support to students who are not meeting with success in the general program, Assistant Principal Karissa Scott said. This includes creating a more welcoming community for students, Scott continued. “There are some students who are just like ‘hey I am not really quite finding my way,’ so I want to get to know who those students are and

be a resource for them,” Scott said. “I want students to know that I will always treat them with respect regardless of what is going on.” He hopes to be able to publicize more of the great things that happen at MHS, Assistant Principal Jonathan Mach said. It’s a shame that so many good things happen here, but people from outside do not know about it, Mach said. “Even though we know it, people don’t necessarily know it, so I want to make sure that we can shift that culture,” Mach added. The addition of two new counselors will reduce the caseload, Counselor Valerie Lamb said. Counselors will be able to pay more attention to their students, Lamb explained. “I really like working with the students,” Lamb said. “It gives me a lot of enjoyment just seeing what the student needs, how I can help, so I definitely like that part.” Similarly, Counselor Adrian Hernandez hopes to build strong relationships with students and families, he said. He hopes students will feel safe coming to him when they feel challenged or need guidance.

Seven National Merit semifinalists named BY Theodore Do

Seven MHS students were named National Merit Semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation on Sept. 12, according to Principal Francis Rojas. The students who qualified as semifinalists are Anvi Brahmbhatt, Ashley Chen, Eric de Guzman, Junyu Deng, Antoine Devictor, Josephine Tai, and Lisa Yan, Rojas added. The semifinalists are seniors who took the PSAT in 11th grade; this year, there were about 16,000 students nationwide that qualified as semifinalists, Rojas said. After the semifinalists submit a scholarship application, the national committee will do selections for the finalists, he continued. “Some of it comes with scholar-

ships, and some of it is you just get recognized as finalists,” Rojas said. “Essentially, it’s a recognition. ” Senior Lisa Yan was thrilled when she found out about her qualification, she said. Now that students know that they have been qualified, they will have to write an essay and submit their grades, SAT scores, and extracurricular activities, Yan said. Some seniors take the PSAT in hopes of getting the National Merit Scholarship, Senior Junyu Deng said. Others choose to take it as a chance to practice for the real SAT, she continued. “Don’t stress about it,” Deng said. “No one will care if you fail.” The best method to study is to find out tricks regarding the PSAT, according to Yan. Since the PSAT is all multiple choice and shorter than

the actual SAT, it requires a bit less endurance, Yan said. “Find out what you don’t know and specifically target those types of questions,” Yan said. “I think the math section is easier to figure out, but the internet also has many tips for cracking both the reading and math section.” In order to practice for either the SAT or the PSAT, students can take prep classes and do practice tests provided by the College Board, Senior Anvi Brahmbhatt said. After taking the test and qualifying, Brahmbhatt felt extremely blessed for the opportunity, she said. “This is a great opportunity to see which level you are at with the SAT, and it shows you which areas you need to practice more in,” Brahmbhatt said.

MHS works to introduce more AP courses BY Eric de Guzman

Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science may be offered to MHS students next year, AP Coordinator Jennifer Hutchison said. Math Teacher Mr. Castleman was sent to a AP Computer Science training this last summer, Principal Francis Rojas said. “It’s a week-long thing over at Stanford, I think,” Rojas said. “And so [Castleman’s] job this year is to develop the curriculum for that.” Among the new classes offered this year is AP Environmental Science, Rojas said. Rojas added that he heard the course was very popular. “We had to limit [AP Environmental Science] to only two sections this

year,” Rojas said. “If we opened it all up, then people that need Biology won’t get it because that’s the same teacher that would be teaching that.” This year, Hutchison said, AP Chinese was another course to be offered. However, Hutchison said, not enough students enrolled, so the class was discontinued for the time being. “Maybe next year there will be more people who would like to try and take [AP Chinese],” Hutchison said. In regards to students from other high schools that would like to take AP tests at MHS, Hutchison said that they are not allowed to come on campus for several reasons. Test sizes are usually large already, and MHS does

not have the facilities to accommodate more people for tests, Hutchison explained. “We have to pay for the proctors to come in and proctor the exam, so the more people you add, the more proctors you have to bring in,” Hutchison said. “Testing environments aren’t always conducive when you have three hundred or more kids in a room.” Dealing with people not familiar with MHS or its students is more to manage, Hutchison said. MHS really focuses on its own students, she said. “I just feel like Milpitas High has a very strong AP program and I’m excited to see it continue to do good things,” Hutchison concluded.